Gender Plus: Toward a More Inclusive Feminism

This paper explores the racism of mainstream feminism and the ways in which what we think of as feminism has not adequately addressed the needs of black women in the United States. It describes some of the ways in which black women’s experiences of oppression in the United States differ from white women’s. It then proposes a methodological tool for avoiding racism in feminist political theory, “Gender Plus,” which calls for feminist theorists to consider at least one level of inquiry beyond gender when formalizing theory. This paper engages in “Gender Plus” by using race as an example level of inquiry beyond gender, and shows how acknowledging and considering the races of the women theorists study can aid in combating tendencies toward racism in feminist thought

An Analysis and Evaluation of Sit Stay Read: Is the Program Effective in Improving Student Engagement and Reading Outcomes?

Sit Stay Read is a unique literacy intervention program that uses dogs in the classroom to improve student reading and writing outcomes in select, disadvantaged Chicago Public Schools. The goal of this research study was to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the Sit Stay Read program in improving student engagement and reading outcomes. As evaluated during the 2008/2009 school year, through mixed methods research, the Sit Stay Read program was effective in improving second grade students’ oral reading fluency scores with students in the program group (N=152) gaining 8 words per minute more on average, but up to 14 words per minute more in some cases, than students in a comparison group (N=98). This represents a 20 percent improvement in the program group over the comparison group in oral reading fluency gain. No significant gender differences were noted, though girls responded somewhat more favorably to the program than did boys. No significant difference was noted in attendance rates between the two groups, though attendance data were limited. Qualitative analysis of interview data with teachers, students, and the program’s executive director suggests that all groups have very favorable perceptions of the program and that Sit Stay Read supports the three key components of the construct of engaged learning with the program positively impacting students’ competence level in reading and writing, supporting the development of a community of learners, and exposing children to authentic work that is meaningful to them

Issue Brief: Socio-Economic Status/Class and Discrimination

This issue brief discusses the discrimination that Americans face due to their socioeconomic status particularly with regards to political engagement, access to education and class mobility. Understanding class divides requires an understanding of preexisting racial oppression that often aligns with class oppression. The main component of this brief will be highlighting the challenges individuals and politicians face when trying to mitigate class inequality

Towards a simplified payment formula as a reference point for bus contract negotiation or assessment

The burgeoning commitment to contracting the delivery of bus services through competitive tendering or negotiated performance-based contracts has been accompanied by as many contract payments schemes as there are contracts. With the accumulation of experiences throughout the world, we are now in a position to identify a few key features of the diverse suite of payment formulae, in order to propose a simplified payment formula that has the potential to capture the majority of ‘desirable’ characteristics from a social and a commercial perspective. This formula may then be the basis for a reference point in contract negotiation or assessment. Setting aside the myriad of caveats and variations of existing contracts, this paper reasonably assumes that there are substantive common elements which capture the majority of variations in total cost per bus kilometre and cost per passenger, and can be used to establish a starting position to implement a simplified contract. We illustrate how a simplified reference payment formula might be calibrated and applied to calculate gross cost per passenger which incorporates gross cost per bus km, per hour and per peak bus, as well as passengers per bus kilometre. The paper overall offers a way forward to move towards an objective way of assessing the costs of delivering bus services with a simplified payment formula in the contract

CMV-Specific CD8 T Cell Differentiation and Localization: Implications for Adoptive Therapies.

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a ubiquitous virus that causes chronic infection and, thus, is one of the most common infectious complications of immune suppression. Adoptive transfer of HCMV-specific T cells has emerged as an effective method to reduce the risk for HCMV infection and/or reactivation by restoring immunity in transplant recipients. However, the CMV-specific CD8(+) T cell response is comprised of a heterogenous mixture of subsets with distinct functions and localization, and it is not clear if current adoptive immunotherapy protocols can reconstitute the full spectrum of CD8(+) T cell immunity. The aim of this review is to briefly summarize the role of these T cell subsets in CMV immunity and to describe how current adoptive immunotherapy practices might affect their reconstitution in patients. The bulk of the CMV-specific CD8(+) T cell population is made up of terminally differentiated effector T cells with immediate effector function and a short life span. Self-renewing memory T cells within the CMV-specific population retain the capacity to expand and differentiate upon challenge and are important for the long-term persistence of the CD8(+) T cell response. Finally, mucosal organs, which are frequent sites of CMV reactivation, are primarily inhabited by tissue-resident memory T cells, which do not recirculate. Future work on adoptive transfer strategies may need to focus on striking a balance between the formation of these subsets to ensure the development of long lasting and protective immune responses that can access the organs affected by CMV disease

Hand-Injectable Acrylic Bone Cement Applicator for Skull Base Bone Replacement

One of the only existing procedures to remove brain tumors at the skull base is endoscopic endonasal neurosurgery. The most difficult part of this surgery is closing the hole created in the skull, which currently is solved by stuffing fat and biocompatible foam in the hole and sealing it with glue. A better way of sealing this hole would be to use poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) so that the hole is replaced with a material which more closely resembles bone. In order to better understand the delivery and application of PMMA bone cement into a patient?s skull through the nasal passages by a surgeon, we modeled three-dimensional viscous fluid flow within a surgical device prototype. The model is comprised of a 5-mm diameter tube with a 1-mm diameter wire running through its center. This wire is secured in place with vertical and horizontal supports. We analyzed the effects of the supports and wire on velocity and pressure drop of PMMA material moving through the tube to see if there was any resistance created in the tube that would be unmanageable by an unaided surgeon. To model the fluid flow, we created a three dimensional geometric schematic of the device in COMSOL. We acquired material properties from related literature and ran multiple simulations with several mesh sizes with COMSOL using the 3-D incompressible Navier-Stokes steady state application mode. The overall goal of this project was to determine if a surgeon could push PMMA through the tube without assistance from machines. Using this model we could then determine the manual pressure needed to administer the PMMA into a patient?s skull at an appropriate velocity. Our results indicated that the amount of applied pressure required would be 1.7 lbf, which is much less than the minimal value (~17 lbf) found in the literature regarding thumb strength. From simulations we obtained multiple velocity profiles and plots of pressure drop. Pressure decreases at a constant rate until the tube bends, the wire is introduced, or fluid passes by an obstruction at each point drop in pressure increases. The total amount of pressure drop in the tube was found to be 380 kPa. As we increased inlet velocity, the required applied pressure increased significantly, but not to a magnitude that would be unbearable to a human thumb. The model also gives valuable insight on the effects of obstructions on continuous, viscous fluid flow in a narrow tube

Physiotherapist-directed rehabilitation exercises in the outpatient or home setting improve strength, gait speed and cadence after elective total hip replacement: a systematic review

QuestionIn people who have been discharged from hospital after a total hip replacement, do rehabilitation exercises directed by a physiotherapist improve strength, gait, function and quality of life? Are these exercises as effective in an unsupervised home-based setting as they are in a supervised outpatient setting?DesignSystematic review with meta-analysis of randomised trials.ParticipantsAdult patients after elective total hip replacement.InterventionPhysiotherapist-directed rehabilitation exercises after discharge from hospital following total hip replacement.Outcome measuresHip and knee strength, gait parameters, functional measures, and quality of life.ResultsFive studies comprising 234 participants were included in the review. Sufficient data for meta-analysis were only obtained for hip and knee strength, gait speed and cadence. Physiotherapy rehabilitation improved hip abductor strength by a mean of 16Nm (95% CI 10 to 22), gait speed by 6 m/min (95% CI 1 to 11) and cadence by 20 steps/min (95% CI 8 to 32). Favourable but non-significant improvements in strength were noted for other muscle groups at the hip and knee. Function and quality of life could not be meta-analysed due to insufficient data and heterogeneity of measures, but functional measures tended to favour the physiotherapy rehabilitation group. Most outcomes were similar between outpatient and home-based exercise programs.ConclusionPhysiotherapy rehabilitation improves hip abductor strength, gait speed and cadence in people who have been discharged from hospital after total hip replacement. Physiotherapist-directed rehabilitation exercises appear to be similarly effective whether they are performed unsupervised at home or supervised by a physiotherapist in an outpatient setting

Hsc70-induced changes in clathrin-auxilin cage structure suggest a role for clathrin light chains in cage disassembly

The molecular chaperone, Hsc70, together with its co-factor, auxilin, facilitates the ATP-dependent removal of clathrin during clathrin-mediated endocytosis in cells. We have used cryo-electron microscopy to determine the 3D structure of a complex of clathrin, auxilin401-910 and Hsc70 at pH 6 in the presence of ATP, frozen within 20 seconds of adding Hsc70 in order to visualize events that follow the binding of Hsc70 to clathrin and auxilin before clathrin disassembly. In this map, we observe density beneath the vertex of the cage that we attribute to bound Hsc70. This density emerges asymmetrically from the clathrin vertex, suggesting preferential binding by Hsc70 for one of the three possible sites at the vertex. Statistical comparison with a map of whole auxilin and clathrin previously published by us reveals the location of statistically significant differences which implicate involvement of clathrin light chains in structural rearrangements which occur after Hsc70 is recruited. Clathrin disassembly assays using light scattering suggest that loss of clathrin light chains reduces the efficiency with which auxilin facilitates this reaction. These data support a regulatory role for clathrin light chains in clathrin disassembly in addition to their established role in regulating clathrin assembly

Campus Visits as Predictors of Postsecondary Enrollment in Low-Income, Rural School Districts

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between visits to college campuses by middle school and high school students and postsecondary enrollment rates, where campus visits are classified as both formal college visits and also informal campus visits. Specifically, Traditional Campus Visits and Educational Campus Field Trips are categorized as two distinct service types sponsored by the GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) grant program in 11 rural, western North Carolina school districts. The participants were 2,274 students who started the GEAR UP program in 7th grade and remained enrolled at a participating GEAR UP school through high school graduation. Using logistic regression analyses to estimate the effects of two different campus visit types, and the year in which the visits occurred, the results indicated that both informal (Educational Campus Field Trip) and formal (Traditional College Visit) campus visits had an association with postsecondary enrollment rates, with formal campus visits collectively having a stronger impact than informal campus visits. We also found that visits taken earlier in a student’s academic career had an important association with postsecondary enrollment rates